Syntax Error
by Skeeet
Summary: "I don't understand why you're so upset about him specifically." Noah knew not to use Alejandro's name. He didn't want her head to explode from thoughts of him. "... I think I might like him, Noah." Heather said quietly.
1. Egypt

**Flight after Egypt**

"Oh great, another challenge. Just what I was hoping for." Noah sarcastically said as he took a seat at of the few tables and crossed his legs. Chris was no where to be seen and yet, he sounded impatient through the loudspeaker, as if he'd been waiting for them for hours. Well, it was Chris, he was probably already sick of these kids... And when is he ever on time?

"Oh, shut it nerd, not winning anything doesn't give you permission to complain about everything." Heather said, obviously annoyed by his constant use of sarcasm. She took the seat across from his and crossed her arms. "Whoa, I'm sorry, your highness. I must've forgotten my 'I love Heather' attitude at home." He rolled his eyes and crossed his own arms. They glared at each other across the table. If you were there, you could actually see the little sparks of lighting that appeared between them. "Noah, Heather, there's no need to fight, we're all friends here, see?" Alejandro took a seat beside Heather, placed one of his arms around her and grinned. Heather stared at him for a moment, stunned yet, infuriated at the same time. Noah's blood boiled as his glare moved towards Alejandro, then back at Heather. Not more than a few seconds later, she shrugged his arm off of herself. "I am _not_ your friend. I will never, ever, _ever_, be friends with anyone on this piece of junk." She stood and leaned against a nearby wall. Noah simply smirked and shook his head at her.

"Looks like the new guy's got a crush on Heather." Dj said as he attempted to nudge his buddy Owen. Once he realized that he was nudging the air, he turned to look for the one who was walking next to him. He frowned at the boy curled up in a ball and pulled him to his feet. "I can't do this man! _We're all gonna die!_" Owen cried, comically throwing his arms into the air. DJ led him to one of the tables and rubbed his hand against Owen's back as an attempt to comfort him once they sat. Just as Owen was about to calm down, Izzy cart wheeled into the room and jumped onto the table he was currently at. "Iz! Stop! You're making the insides of the plane dizzy!" Owen leaped under the table and shivered like a puppy in the rain. "Alright! Big-O, get up and jump! Let's make this plane ride a roller-coaster ride!" Izzy jumped off the table and grabbed onto Owens wrist. She ignored his cries and continued to jabber on. "You know, this one time, I rode The Corkscrew, you know, the _super fast_ roller coaster than has like, a _bagillion_ loops? Yeah! On the last loop, the ride just totally stopped, yeah, we were upside down and this one guy, he almost died because he was a _total rebel_ and he didn't buckle himself in right but-"

"We don't care, crazy girl." Noah interrupted. Izzy shrugged and continued to pull Owen from his 'safe spot.'

The rest of the contestants flooded in and the room was soon filled with mindless conversations about the past and the future. They went on and on about who they were before the show, and what they thought was going to happen, or what they _wanted_ to happen. Nobody paid any attention to the present outside of challenges. Nobody knew why, it was just the way things went. Harold had his face glued to one of the many windows as he tried to theorize where they were heading, Gwen and Courtney sat awkwardly next to each other, and LeShawna, Lindsay, and Bridgette were busy drooling over Alejandro. Noah was ready to smash his head against the cold, metallic table, then Cody walked in. He thought it was about time he and his buddy had a conversation. Noah got up, brushed himself off and walked towards the boy with the gap-toothed smile. The last time they shared a full conversation was the bus ride to where they took off for the first time. Noah needed someone _normal_ to talk to, and Cody was the closest one to.

"Hey Cody." Noah said casually, taking the seat next to his pal's. "Liking your team?" He looked towards Heather, who was busying herself by filing her nails.

"Well, I should." Cody scratched his head and looked towards Gwen. "Gwen's on my team... But, she's consistently bickering with Courtney or Heather or worse, Both!" He slapped his hand at his forehead in frustration.

Noah patted his back cautiously, trying not to make things awkward. There had been far too many awkward moments between them already, and he didn't want to ruin everything they had.

"At least you've got someone who actually_ likes_ you." Noah said, trying to make Cody feel better. He noticed Cody's sudden face change and removed his hand from his back and mentally braced himself for the explosion.

"Sierra?" Cody shouted, "She does not _like_ me Noah, she- she's obsessed!" Cody's voice cracked near the end of that sentence, and Noah fought the urge to laugh. Noah thought back to when his voice wasn't as... Mature as it sounds now and reminisced. '_Good times..._' Noah thought, sarcastically, of course. A not too familiar voice shattered his thoughts and his head shot up. He looked towards Cody, who wore the face of a coward. "OMG, Cody! I have been looking _everywhere_ for you!" Sierra snatched Cody up into her arms and squeezed. "Speak of the devil..." Noah mumbled towards Cody before making his way away from the couple. "Don't be shy Cody, you can hug back." Sierra squeezed tighter, forcing nervous chuckles to escape from Cody. He was trying to be nice. _Boy, was he trying._

Noah made his way back to his original spot only to find it taken by Heather. He walked behind her and cleared his throat as loudly, and annoyingly, as he could. He rolled his eyes. Just as he'd thought, she had ignored him. He tapped her shoulder twice, forcing her to slap his hand away.

"Do **not** touch me." Heather threatened, her back still facing him. Noah couldn't believe how rude she was, actually, he could.

"Why not? Afraid your costume will fall off, revealing how ugly you really are?" Heather froze and he bit his tongue. Even though he had almost no experience with girls, he knew that they were sensitive once it came to calling them ugly, or anything along the lines of that. Everyone was insecure now-a-days, but he knew _Heather_ must be over a hundred times more insecure than the average girl. She didn't show it, and she's been fooling everyone around her, but him.

"What do you _want_ from me?" Heather said through her teeth, trying not to show how she felt on the inside. Her heart pounded as flashes from her past flew through her mind like a hurricane. Noah stopped himself from saying what he wanted. He wanted to tell her to get up and off his seat. Technically, it wasn't his seat, but he was there first. He sighed.

"Nothing, nevermind." He walked towards the wall she leaned on beforehand and positioned himself in the same way she did. He felt guilty. Too guilty. Something was wrong here.

* * *

**A/N:** Pretty short, I know, but that's because I don't know what I'm doing right now. Haha. I've got more, but I don't know... You know? I mentioned everyone that was still in the competition at the time. Oh, I missed someone? Was his name Dave? Oh well. Anyways, I'll have the second chapter up soon, it'll probably be as short as this one... Or maybe longer 'cause there's a new episode coming out later today. (It's around 1am right now and that means it's Monday!) Maybe I'll get more ideas. Jeez, I really run out fast. Goodnight.


	2. Japan

**Flight after Japan**

"No need to thank me, Ladies." Cody said confidently as he walked towards the rest of Team Amazon after the rest of the teams had left to rest, or try to, in the economy class section. Courtney, Gwen, and Heather ignored him and discussed what they thought was more important, who should be the team's leader.

"We make a really good team, Cody!" Sierra grabbed his upper arm and giggled, "We should work together more often, huh?" The wide-eyed boy brushed her off lightly and rubbed his neck. "Uh, I think we should pay attention to the other girls…" He motioned towards the bickering trio of hard-headed girls. "Instead of each other, you know? It would be better for the team…" Cody trailed off and backed away slightly. Sierra jumped towards Cody and crushed him in yet another one of her hugs. "That's a great idea!" She squealed into his ear, almost blowing his eardrums out.

Noah watched the scene through the door that separated the losers from the winners. '_Poor Cody…_' He murmured to himself. He closed the door and turned around to face the rest of his team. Izzy squirmed in her seat resulting in a piece of her seat belt to tear a bit. She stared at it in amazement and tore it apart entirely while laughing like a maniac. "Izzy, No! The plane's going to crash any second now!" Owen screamed, breathing heavily at his seat. Noah buckled himself in and leaned back, still staring at his team. "Calm down, she's probably prone to explosions and crashes anyways. She'll be fine if we crash... Which we might." He looked further behind the ballistic Owen and the berserk Izzy to find the rest of his team-mates, Alejandro and Tyler, with Team Victory.

Alejandro practically had the girls wrapped around his finger. Even _Izzy_ glanced up numerous times to ogle him from a distance. "It was tragic that Harold chose to leave, wasn't it?" Alejandro had a sympathetic expression on and he shook his head as if Harold was actually his friend. "Who?" LeShawna mumbled, obviously distracted by his looks. Noah face palmed and leaned forward to support his head up on his hand. "I sure hope your team wins the next challenge," Alejandro put his arms around Bridgette and Lindsay. Noah opened an eye and watched him. "You all surely deserve to win." He finished seductively, making them blush even more. Noah shifted his sight towards Izzy to see her reaction to this. Izzy was without a doubt drowning in jealousy. It was so out of character, Noah couldn't stop watching her. She was practically glowing green.

"Man, Lindsay is supposed to like _me_!" Tyler whined. "That Alejandro guy is-" "As sweet as honey." Dj interrupted. Noah groaned. Alejandro even had_ Dj _fooled. Tyler nodded his head in a depressing matter, reluctantly agreeing with Dj.

Noah straightened his back and fiddled with the belt that kept him seated. He figured that since there was nobody to talk to and nothing to do, he should get some rest. He leaned against the plane wall and tried to drown out the noises that his fellow competitors were making.

Heather sat independently away from the rest of her team in the winners' compartment. '_Who needs them?'_ She thought angrily. Looking towards them, she growled. She knew she needed them to keep herself in the game, but she would never let Courtney become the team leader. Courtney was the one who annoyed her even more than Gwen, and to Heather, being on the same team as those two was hell. Both of them were against her, no matter what she did. No way was she going to start being nice to them, they didn't deserve it. Nobody on this plane deserved it. She spotted Gwen and Courtney laughing amongst themselves and she rolled her eyes. It was dark outside the window but it was burning hot inside, thanks to the over-active heater. She decided to check and see what was going on outside the room and walked over to the exit.

"I guess she finally figured out that she's a loser and she's going to be where she's supposed to be." Gwen mumbled. Despite her lowering her voice, she still wanted Heather to hear what she had said, and to her satisfaction, she did. Courtney giggled and watched Heather make her way out of the room.

Shrugging off Gwen's comment, as usual, Heather left the room. The temperature dropped unexpectedly, forcing Heather to wrap her arms around herself. The place smelt of Owen's sweat and she tried her best to ignore it. Alejandro relaxed with girls in his arms and once he spotted Heather he couldn't help but grin at her. Heather shot him a scowl in return and continued to walk forward, tripping, and nearly falling, over Noah's feet in the process, waking him from his snooze. She turned in speed and waited for Noah's complaint. Noah rubbed his eyes and looked up at her sloppily. They locked gazes for a second, then Noah decided to speak.

"It isn't that hard to watch where you're going, you know." He said as he stretched his arms. He was annoyed with her action. Thanks to her, he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.

"It isn't that hard to sleep lying down like a _normal_ person, you know." She retorted, looking towards Alejandro, then turning around completely to face Noah.

"I'd rather sleep sitting up than lying down in here." He pointed towards Owen who let out another one of his nauseous fumes onto the seats. "Safety..." Owen murmured in his sleep.

Heather raised an eyebrow at Owen and sat next to Noah. He looked around aimlessly, trying to avoid eye contact with her. She noticed his nervous behaviour and chuckled.

"Anything bothering you?" She crossed her legs and leaned back.

"Not at all. I don't mind sitting next to manipulative, ego-maniacal people." He sighed, "I have to get used to it with him on my team." He caught sight of Alejandro, who was practically buried in girls.

"Jealous much?" Heather teased, also keeping an eye on Alejandro.

"There's nothing to be jealous about." Noah answered, nonchalantly. He knew he was lying, and so did she.

"I'm sure there isn't." She turned her head to face Noah, once again. She saw the envy in his eyes but chose to ignore it.

"Jeez, it is cold in here." Heather shivered and wrapped her arms around herself once more. Noah stared at her curiously.

"I'll say." He muttered.

They sat verbally silent for a few hours, secretly exchanging glances every now and then. Heather covered her mouth with her hand and yawned. Noah watched her at the corner of his eye. She blinked lazily and propped her head up with her hand.

"Aww, it looks like it's past someone's bed time." Noah chimed quietly. In return, he received a slight shove. This surprised him, causing him to stiffen and straighten his spine.

"I am not a child." She snapped. "Compared to everyone one else here, I'm way more mature." She yawned again. She turned lazily to look at the door to the winners' compartment. She was mentally hesitant, and Noah realized this through her expression.

"They're all sleeping, it's really late." Noah told her, "You don't have to worry about them uh... Talking to you when you get in there." He assured her and motioned for her to go and get some rest. Heather nodded lazily and without another word, she left him seated by himself.

Noah exhaled and closed his eyes. He asked himself why she had decided to talk to him. It's not that it bothered him, it was just... Weird. He had to admit, though, she wasn't as uninteresting as all of the others.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm sorry, but they're going to continue to be short for a while. The only time I feel like typing is really late at night and I tend to stay up a little_ too_ late and I'm trying to change that. I'm almost finished the 'Flight after Yukon' chapter (Which was supposed to be in the same chapter as this one...) so that'll probably be up tomorrow._ Probably. _This story's going pretty slowly, but trust me, it'll get better. Night!


	3. Yukon

**A/N:** Hi! I'm just here to warn those who haven't watched Total Drama World Tour yet that this fic's going to go along with the actual show so they **may contain spoilers.** It will spoil who won the privilege to be in the winners' compartment for each episode, but I'll try my best not to reveal what happened in the actual challenges that took place in the episode and who got eliminated. I watch the episodes ahead of time on YouTube so I'm sorry if I ruin the show for anyone.

* * *

**Flight after Yukon**

"Great job, Heather! Look where we are now!" Courtney spread her arms out, agitatedly, referring to the losers' area. Gwen brushed past Heather carelessly and took a seat.

"Uh, _Hello_?" Heather shouted, "I was _helping_!" Courtney's jaw dropped in disbelief. "_Helping_? _**Helping**_?" Courtney slapped her hand to her forehead and walked past her, just as Gwen had.

"If it wasn't for me," Heather leaned forward and placed her hands on her chest, "You'd still be dragging us through the snow!" Their argument went on for what seemed like centuries. It all died down thanks to Chris storming into the room to shut them up. They knew he was serious when he threatened to personally throw each of them off the plane. He was insane like that. Heather sat away from everyone else and rubbed her temples.

It had been hours since she had talked, and she was beginning to doze off. She propped her elbows up on her thighs and bowed her head into her hands. She felt a presence beside her and sighed heavily. "Look, Courtney, I don't want to deal with your-" She looked up to find not Courtney, but Noah sitting beside her. "What do you want?" She snapped, putting her head back down. "Well, uh, you came to talk to me the other day-" "No I didn't!" Heather stated sharply. She had went over to the economy class section to simply examine her opponents. "And…" Noah carried on. "I thought that maybe I could come and talk to you in return of that favor." She remained silent and he continued to speak, "I figured you had nobody to talk to so…" Noah trailed off. He began to regret coming to her in the first place. He mentally pummeled himself and his thoughts pushed him to leave her be. He looked at her once more, in hopes of any response. She continued to sit in her position in silence.

He rolled his eyes in disbelief and stood. He was annoyed that he used up all that energy to walk all the way there to talk to _Heather_. Noah brushed himself off and walked off, only to be stopped by Heather, who took hold of his wrist.

"I do_ to_ have someone to talk to." She stressed, staring him straight in the eyes. "Oh yeah?" He raised a brow, "Who?" He tested. She turned around to look at the rest of the contestants. She scanned through each one and at the same time came up with different excuses to why they weren't talking to her at the moment. Sierra, who was currently snuggling up to Cody, caught Heathers eye.

"Sierra!" Heather beamed, and Noah's expression stayed the same. "Yeah, I told her I wanted to be left alone and she went over to Cody." She lied. They both realized she was still clutching Noah's wrist and after a brief moment, she removed her hand hastily.

After an awkward silence, Noah crossed his arms. "Oh, well if you want to be left alone…" Noah turned around with a slight smile playing on his face. "Then I guess I should leave too-" "No!" Heather interrupted. Noah whipped back around and caught a glimpse of Heather's expression. The feeling of loneliness, along with embarrassment, flooded her eyes.

After realizing her sudden outburst, she averted her eyes from his and searched her mind for a cover-up. "I mean…" She mumbled. Heather looked up again once she had found herself without another excuse and saw him smiling down at her. "Ugh! Just sit." She leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms. Noah sat silently and tried to wipe the smile off of his face. "Stop smiling," Heather demanded. "You're creeping me out."

A pattern of small talks and uncomfortable silences later, the sun and it's lights were replaced by the moon and the soon-to-explode cheap light bulbs.

"It's getting late." Heather said. Noah turned his head to look at her. "Gee, thanks Tibbs." He said sarcastically. She turned to face him angrily, but said nothing. "What's your point?" He said. "No point." She responded. "I'm just saying it's getting late, is that so wrong?" They studied each others' faces and remained silent. "No, what's _wrong_ is we're about to go to sleep and you guys won't shut it!" Gwen complained from across the room. "Why don't you two just get a room?" Courtney butt in. "Maybe we will!" Heather blurted. Noah's eyes grew wide, he couldn't believe what she just said, and neither did she.

"I mean, why don't you!" She shouted. The only response she got from them were immature giggles. "Night, Noah. Have fun getting eaten alive by Heather." Gwen chuckled and walked further away from them.

She turned to face Noah again. Her face was flushed. "You should go." He could tell that a part of her wanted him to stay but the vibes she let off wanted him gone. His head said, '_Let's go._' but his gut said, '_Stay._' He didn't know what to listen to. Noah had always been the one who would follow their mind rather than his heart, or gut, or any other organ in his body, but this was different.

"_Hello_? I said leave." Heather said again with a hint of doubt in her voice. Since things were awkward enough, "Why?" Noah asked in a very serious tone. A long pause later, "Because..." Heather glanced at the floor. Noah watched and waited for her to finish. Heather knew she wanted him to stay, but she thought that she had just ruined their potential friendship, just like she did with the other competitors. She thought he didn't want to be there anymore, that he wanted to leave.

"Because it's too late." She finally said. Noah furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He concluded that she would regret telling him to leave, but by looking at her eyes, he knew it would be better if he left her to think.

"Goodnight, Heather." Was all Noah said before heading back into the winners' compartment.

Hours flew by and Heather repeated the conversation she had with Courtney and Gwen over and over again in her head. She growled and laid on her side, despite how dirty the seats must be. The thoughts that pounded in her head and the lack of heat made it difficult for her to fall asleep. She turned over to lie on her other side to face the wall. The discomfort she had irritated her and she sat up and looked out the window across from her. Nothing but darkness. She sighed and tilted her head back, hitting it against the wall. Just as she closed her eyes, she head noise to her left. She was ready to tell Noah to leave and go back to sleep 'till she heard Alejandro's voice instead.

"Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself." Heather opened her eyes and saw him with a blanket in hand. "What are _you_ doing awake?" She asked quietly, trying not to awaken the rest.

"I was worried about you." He answered, a sly smile plastered across his face. She scoffed.

"Go away." She glared at him. He was getting on her nerves, she knew he didn't mean it. "I'm not stupid, I already _know_ you're trying to make me fall for you like all of the other girls so you might as well leave now."

"Oh, I don't have to_ try _and _make_ you fall for me." He said huskily, "You'll do that all on your own." He was sitting beside her, getting as close to her as possible. She felt her body temperature rise and assumed it was because of her anger. "You're cute when you blush." He flirted. "I am not blushing." She shuffled her away across the seats, away from him. Alejandro noticed she was eying the blanket he held and smirked.

"You're right, my mistake." He slid towards her. "You must be cold, I brought this for you." He held it out for her to take. She brought her hand up to accept it but he yanked the blanket towards himself. She shot him another piercing glare.

"I'm not in the mood for your childish games." Heather said, obviously peeved.

"All I want is a meaningful hug in return, is that too much to ask?" Alejandro tried his best at an innocent face expression. "Yes." Heather replied instantly. She wrapped her arms around herself as another shiver traveled up her spine. He shook the blanket between them, taunting her. She clenched her teeth and shuffled towards him hesitantly. He wrapped his arms around her and she did the same to him. Heather was amazed at how long it had been since she had hugged someone. The warmth Alejandro emitted caused her tense body to relax against his. She closed his eyes and breathed slowly, taking in the moment. Heather opened her eyes and saw Noah watching from the door. A wave of a feeling that she wasn't too familiar crashed over her. She pushed against from the boy she embraced and snatched the blanket from him.

"Bye." She said in a rush and pushed him towards the door. She watched him leave with a satisfying smile on his face.

Noah had no idea why, but he was filled with rage. He knew it, he knew she would go for Alejandro. Unsure of why he felt this way, Noah tried to calm himself down by doing equations in his head, but it wouldn't work. Alejandro swiftly passed and ignored Noah and made his way across the room to go back to sleep. Noah saw Heather wrapped in Alejandro's blanket and clenched his teeth before closing the door.


	4. New York

**Flight After New York**

Noah clenched his teeth as another cold breeze passed through his body. Taking a glimpse out of one of the nearby windows, he guessed they were headed towards the Alps. '_I swear, Chris is insane... That, or an evil genius._' He thought to himself before letting out a depressing sigh and resting his head on his palm. Noah was bored to death, but he wasn't going to waste his energy just to get up for another book. Another drop of what Noah hoped to be water fell from the ceiling and crashed onto the floor, joining the rest of the drops to form a puddle. He's been watching the growth of this puddle since they began flight at New York, that's how bored he was. Noah_ could _have been talking to his teammates but he decided that he'd rather die of boredom than of annoyance.

Out of curiosity, He glanced up to see what they were doing. Owen rocked back and fourth, mumbling to himself, eyes as big as golf balls… '_Typical._' Noah murmured to himself. Izzy swung upside down from one of the rusty bars just above Owen telling another one of her stories about her crazy family reunions… '_Again, typical._' He turned to his right and spotted Alejandro. Noah clenched his teeth once again, but not because of the temperature, but because of him. Alejandro was eyeing the door that lead to the winners' compartment. Noah wondered what he was thinking. It was hard to read people when they had their back turned towards you.

"Hey, Noah." Noah inhaled and turned his head to the left with haste. Seeing Tyler, he let out his breath and rolled his eyes. "Oh, I forgot you were still here." Noah said emotionlessly. Tyler raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "What's that supposed to mean?" Noah smirked knowing that he must've taken that incorrectly. "Nothing," He replied. "What do you want, Dave?" Noah joked. The expression Tyler made surprised him. Noah stared him in the face, speechless. After a long three seconds, "Look, Lindsay's pretty dumb-" Noah's eyes widened and he looked directly into Tyler's. All he could see was fire. "I mean, _slow_…" He stressed, trying to correct himself. Tyler blinked, and the flames were put out. "Uh, it's been quite a while, so she should remember you by now." Tyler turned around to take a peek at Lindsay who was sitting with LeShawna and Dj. "I hope so." He stood from his seat. "Thanks, man!" He held his hand out for a high five. Noah stared at it and slapped it hesitantly. He walked off towards Lindsay with a confident vibe. At least he had the guts to talk to the girl he liked. Noah, on the other hand, was a wimp. Tyler's drive to continue to impress Lindsay, no matter how many times she ignored him, was inspiring to Noah.

He turned back towards where he faced before and noticed a major difference, no Alejandro. He wasn't sitting where he was supposed to be, Noah knew he was with _her._

Noah hadn't talked to Heather since the night he went to see her. It bothered him greatly, knowing that she probably didn't even care that they haven't talked because she had _Alejandro_. Noah looked into the winners' area and found Sierra watching Cody sleep. He shuddered at the way she was staring. He moved his eyesight towards another part of the room and saw a giggling duo of Courtney and Gwen. Noah guessed they were talking about what they both had in common, Duncan. It was ironic that he started their conflict and yet, they're talking about him without a care.

"Who do you think you are? _You are not allowed in here,_ _Alejandro!_" Noah caught sight of Heather purposely leaning towards the pilot's door, hoping to get Alejandro into trouble. It annoyed Noah that she acted so childish when she was around that guy. Noah scooted closer towards the entrance of the room they were in and tried to catch every word in their conversation. He knew how creepy this must be but he had nothing better to do... And this was somewhat infuriating yet, entertaining to him. He noticed that Heather would always find a way to push Alejandro away and he enjoyed that about her. "Now, now, Heather, no need to get feisty. I just wanted to talk to someone who wasn't completely _insane_ for a change." Alejandro grinned and took a seat beside her. Noah rolled his eyes. '_Oh, how smooth._' He thought. Heather examined him carefully and narrowed her eyes at him. "Mind if I sit here, beautiful?" He ran a hand through his thick dark hair and smirked. She sat there, with her mouth opened, not knowing what to do. He shrugged and leaned back into the recliner, taking her action as a yes. After a few minutes of her just sitting there staring, she stood. "Chris!" She screamed, causing Alejandro's eyes to grow large as he sat up hurriedly. Chris popped into the room wearing nothing but a bathrobe and a shower cap, clearly annoyed. "What!" He whined. Heather simply pointed at Alejandro and plopped herself back down onto her recliner. Chris growled and signaled Alejandro out of the room using his fingers. Without a word, Alejandro got up and walked towards the exit. As Chris left, Alejandro managed to turn and blow a kiss towards Heather, to which she rejected by sticking her tongue out at him. Just before he left the room, he gave Gwen and Courtney one of his signature grins.

He caught Noah looking inside and his grin morphed into an evil smirk. "Hello, Noah." He didn't bother to close the door and he took a seat next to Noah, blocking his view.

"Hi…" Noah said. Alejandro barely ever talked to him outside of challenges, so he thought this was pretty out of the ordinary.

"How's my fellow teammate going?" Alejandro's voice was pure with no sign of evil. Noah narrowed his eyes suspiciously, and examined Alejandro carefully. Alejandro simply sat still and allowed Noah to try and read him.

"I don't know," Noah finally answered. "Why don't you go ask?" He used his thumb to point towards Owen, Izzy and Tyler. Alejandro chuckled.

"What a great sense of humor you have." Alejandro grinned. Noah was almost flattered, but he wasn't going to buy it, something was up, and he knew it.

"Thanks..." Noah looked towards a wall across the room.

"So," Alejandro broke the silence.

"So..." Noah repeated.

"Think our team has a chance to win this time?" Alejandro smiled, almost cockily.

"Probably not. Despite their little conflict with each other, Team Amazon's pretty tough to beat."

Alejandro nodded in agreement. "Speaking of Team Amazon," He turned around to sneak a peek at Heather, "Heather seems like a worthy competitor, don't you think?"

Noah looked up at him once he said her name. "I guess." He said, trying not to show any emotion.

Somehow, through his evil eyes, Alejandro took notice of that small portion of affection Noah gave off. "She's quite beautiful, isn't she?"

Noah shifted in his seat awkwardly. "Meh." He closed his eyes and shrugged.

"You two seem close." Alejandro said, referring to them visiting each other after challenges.

"We aren't."

"You seem to_ like_ her," Alejandro said, smirking.

"I absolutely do not." Noah replied quickly, trying to sound disgusted.

"Denial's not just a river in Egypt." Alejandro muttered. "You can tell me Noah, we're teammates." He placed a hand on Noah's shoulder. Noah became tense.

"Look, I don't go around pouring my_ feelings _on people," Noah fought the urge to push Alejandro's hand off, he wanted to appear calm. "Not that I have any for her."

Alejandro's smile grew slightly and he removed his hand. "Alright." He stood and before leaving, he slammed the door behind him shut, then made his way towards Owen.

...

Noah rubbed his hands together and exhaled. He watched his breath dance in the air in front of him until it completely disappeared. He watched everyone else sleep soundly and peacefully and silently envied them. He wondered how they could sleep like this under these circumstances. He finally realized that it was because they were huddled together in different groups. He thought about joining a group, then remembered that he wasn't into the whole _cuddling_ idea, and it was probably just the cold thinking. Noah had only cuddled Bridgette for Heather to notice him. Unfortunately, that plan failed. At this point, Noah would kill for a blanket. His teeth chattered and he could barely breathe without shivering. He tiptoed towards the winners' door and peered through the window. Noah wasn't the rebel type, but he didn't want to be completely frozen. He stepped into the almost pitch-black room, hoping not to wake anyone. He squinted, convincing himself that squinting actually helped him see.

A slight buzz from the heater traveled across the room, soothing Noah. He wanted to stay and sleep there, but he knew he couldn't. He mentally grumbled and crept around the room, looking for any sort of cover. The lights from a hot-tub in the distance were bright enough to make Noah able to see what was before him.

He found Heather curled up into a ball without any covers. Unintentionally, he watched her for a couple of minutes. She took long, smooth breaths, making her chest lift, then drop rhythmically. Instead of looking peaceful, her eyebrows were furrowed, showing a look of discomfort. Noah became concerned, but continued to look for a blanket. After taking one from an empty recliner, he turned back towards the exit. He wrapped it around himself and began to walk back.

A slight moan from Heather's direction startled him. He cautiously hovered over Heather, who had just recently turned to lay on her other side. She had her arms wrapped around herself now. He hesitated, but decided to sacrifice his warmth for her and covered her with the blanket he had found. Her expression softened, causing Noah to smile. He had to admit, she looked adorable. After noticing he was staring, he shook his head. He leaned towards her and whispered in her ear,

"Goodnight..." His hot breath danced on her skin. "I hope you know I'll probably die in the cold thanks to you."

He smirked and walked out of the room.

...

Noah didn't wake up that morning. In fact, he didn't fall asleep in the first place, due to the cold. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He figured that his tiredness would go away after being dumped into the snow of the Alps and that Chris wouldn't make them go to another cold area after this one. The viewers would get bored of the snow.

"Breakfast's ready, hope you guys had a _peaceful _sleep last night." Chris' voice flooded the plane via wall speakers. Before releasing the mic button, he chuckled, amused by his evil deed of making them sleep in the cold at night.

Once the contestants, excluding Noah, received their plate of surprisingly edible food, they all took their seats in the plane's cafeteria. Team Amazon, who had already eaten their first class breakfast, just sat and waited for the others to finish.

Noah stumbled in with bags under his eyes and plopped onto a random seat at a table. He sneezed before lowering his head into his arms and closing his eyes. Little did he know, he had taken the seat beside Heather, who was, strangely, in a good mood.

"No time for sleeping Noah!" Chris bellowed through his handy-dandy megaphone. Noah groaned and lifted his head. "You had plenty of time to do that last night!" Chris, along with Chef, laughed.

Heather chuckled. "That's what you get for breaking into the winners' compartment." Noah rubbed his eyes and yawned. He acted as if he didn't know what she was talking about and stared into her eyes with a dumbfounded look on his face. She smiled lightly.

"Don't even _try_ playing dumb." She said. Noah rolled his eyes, giving up.

"You could at least say thanks." Noah sneezed again. Heather raised an eyebrow.

"_Thank you_." Heather mocked, with an innocent voice. "It was kind of stupid of you though." She still had a smile on her face so he knew she was playing with him. "I had a heater to keep me warm. If you had just taken the blanket like the _rebel_ you are, you wouldn't be sick."

"I was being a _gentleman_." Noah propped his head up on his palm. "You don't take favors too well." He felt a sneeze coming on.

Heather knew it was because she didn't get favors from people who weren't forced into doing it. Ever. But she didn't want him to know that. "Well-"

Noah sneezed. Normally, Heather would back away in disgust, but it was her fault that he was sick. She touched his arm and looked him in the eyes. "Bless you." She smiled and left him to sit alone.

* * *

**A/N:** My summer just suddenly got a whole lot busier so this might take a while. Just so you know, I got my sleeping pattern back to normal. :) I'm the type of person who watches Total Drama on online so my story might go ahead of what's actually being aired on TV. Australia's airing a ton of episodes early (Lucky them!) and I'm not a patient person so I'm gonna be watching them online. Again, I'll say, I'll try my best not to spoil anything important.


	5. German Alps

**Flight after the German Alps**

Using her arms to support her weight against the sink, Heather stared at her reflection in the bathroom confessional mirror, frozen and emotionless. Strands of her hair were loose of her ponytail, her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were swollen. She had thought about using make-up to cover the bruises but didn't bother because the gap in her mouth would still be there, and she couldn't do anything to fix it. She breathed out and removed her gaze from the mirror. She lifted her left hand to ghost over the imperfections on her face. The slightest touch made her wince in pain. She wondered if she deserved to look and feel this way. Eyes still focused on the floor, she opened the door and stepped out, despite not wanting to be seen by anyone. She closed her eyes. Even if they could see her, she wouldn't know, and she'd preferred that.

She could hear them whispering, feel them staring. She was angry, frustrated, and confused. She hadn't lost all of her respect for LeShawna, but she was definitely disappointed in her. Heather had only tried to help, and LeShawna shut her down and picked a sleazy new guy over her. '_If this is what I get for trying to help, what's the point?_' She thought heatedly to herself.

"Karma's finally woken up and bitten you on the butt, hasn't it Heather?" Gwen said grimly with her raspy voice.

Heather paid no attention to Gwen and continued her walk towards a couch in the winners' compartment. Gwen scoffed and took another bite from a chocolate bar. Heather wanted to disappear. For once, she _wanted_ to be unnoticed. Finally arriving at a couch, she laid herself down on her stomach, crossed her arms on the arm rest and bowed her head, hiding her face from the world. Heather wanted to know what it would take to make them stop. Not like they had noticed, but she was trying not to be mean this season. She was trying _hard_. It was definitely not easy for her, but they didn't know that. They thought being nice came naturally to everyone. She was uncomfortable at the moment, but refused to move from her position. She mentally smacked herself for not bothering to use a sheet to cover herself entirely.

'_Alejandro took a dive…_' Heather thought, '_For me._' The rest of the contestants thought she was taking a nap, but she had been wide awake and just thinking to herself. She was thankful that they had enough _nice_ in them to know not to wake her from her slumber, even though she was faking it. After trying to think of the different benefits of letting yourself lose to another team, she gave up. Of course, in this situation, there were none. She continued to ask herself why he would do such a thing, and then it hit her. '_Does he like me?_" She raised her head, only to see darkness. She was surprised that it was already dark… Maybe she _did_ take a nap. She was partially annoyed because she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so she wouldn't be able to do well during the challenge the next day. She was sore from being in the same position for so long and groaned as she stretched herself after standing. Before exiting the room, she looked around the room for a blanket. She saw Gwen somewhat covered under one and considered to take it away from her. A while later, she decided against it and continued to search for her own.

…

Noah sat up and sneezed. He grumbled and looked out the window behind him. Hours and hours of counting sheep didn't work when he was constantly sneezing and losing count. He was mad at himself for getting ill. His father had always told him not to go to sleep mad, because he might not wake up. As dumb as it sounded, Noah believed him. His father never lied.

He watched the grey clouds fly by and let himself relax. If you were to look at him from outside the plane, he would look like a child looking into a candy store. He heard a click in the distance and out of habit, he laid down, shut his eyes and pretended he was asleep. At home, he would stay up late reading a book and if he was caught, it'd be taken away and he'd have to live a month not knowing how it all ends.

Noah focused on the sound of the footsteps and guessed they didn't weigh much. He felt something soft thrown against him rather ungraciously. He waited a while and heard the fairly unknown person go further into the economy class area. Opening one eye slightly, he caught sight of a familiar figure and closed his eyes again. He wanted to jump up and talk to her, but it was too late, she was heading for someone else. Someone who apparently, was _better_. Noah listened in.

"Alejandro." Heather whispered. She waited, but received no response. She whispered his name again and noticed his mouth twitch slightly into a smile. She realized he was faking and grabbed his wrist. He kept his eyes closed, but then opened them rapidly after she jerked him upwards. Heather released his wrist instantly and placed her hands on her hips, irritated.

"I'm sorry," Alejandro said, "I just enjoy hearing your voice say my name." Heather's face heated faintly.

"I have a question to ask you." She said seriously. She looked around, realizing that she didn't think of the embarrassment she would have if he didn't actually like her. Alejandro stood up, not liking the idea of him looking up to her.

"I'd be pleased to answer." He whispered down to her.

"D-Do you…" Heather stopped after noticing she was stuttering. She chose not to ask him right away, but to lead him to answer without her actually asking the question. Heather opened her mouth to speak. "I mean, are you-"

"Attracted to you?" Alejandro finished her sentence before she finish, making her close her mouth. He smirked smugly. "Yes, I am." He stepped towards her and she stood her ground.

Noah opened his eyes to watch them. He didn't want to believe what he was hearing. They were standing extremely close to each other, it sickened him.

Heather looked rather troubled, and Alejandro took notice. "What's wrong?" He tilted her head upwards, forcing her to look at him. She backed away.

Noah closed his eyes again. She was in front of his face now, and her hands were made into fists.

"I am." Heather murmured. Alejandro wasn't able to hear, but Noah was.

Alejandro didn't bother to ask her to repeat herself and he sat back down. He stared at her with a stone cold look on his face.

"Night." Heather said before leaving.

"You should get some ice for those bruises." Alejandro fell back into his sleeping position.

…

Heather tied her hair in a tight ponytail and stared at herself in the mirror again. The swelling had gone down, but not completely. She opened her mouth, revealing her missing tooth. Her mouth throbbed after brushing her teeth and she couldn't move her jaw without it hurting her. She left the washroom to find Chef or Chris and ask them for painkillers.

"You're lucky you give this show good ratings." Chris said as he reluctantly handed Heather some pills. She took them into her mouth and finished a glass of water.

"Thanks." She avoided eye-contact and held the glass out for him to take away from her. He stared at her with an 'are-you-serious?' look. He rolled his eyes at grabbed the glass. Heather walked off towards the cafeteria.

"Heheh, what's it like bein' her maid?" Chef chuckled and patted Chris on the back.

"I'm not her maid! This is my show!" Chris shouted. Chef went back into the cockpit, ignoring Chris.

...

Noah sat quietly with the rest of his team, poking at his food. He watched Heather walk in a sit at an empty table with her plate of food. This reminded him of those stupid television shows about a outcast who falls in love with the cliché who decides to be a good person and sits with them. Noah raised his eyebrows, grabbed the sides of his plate and stood.

"Where're you goin' guy?" Tyler questioned with his mouth full of food. Noah sat back down slowly, dropping his plate back onto the table.

"Just stretching." Noah tapped the sides of his plate with his fingers, eager to leave.

"Lindsay remembered me." Tyler said, grinning confidently. Noah looked up at him.

"That's nice." He looked back down to his food and ate a spoonful. He looked up to look at Tyler again but noticed Alejandro eyeballing Heather. He knew Alejandro would try and sit with her so he brainstormed frantically for a plan.

"Uh, Tyler, since you and Lindsay are officially together again, maybe you should ask Alejandro for some pointers on how to _woo_ her." He looked at Alejandro. "He seems to have a ton of experience."

Tyler turned to face Alejandro and nudged him. Alejandro put a 'I-would-love-to' mask on and before helping Tyler, he glared at Noah for less then a second, trying not to make it obvious.

Noah quickly got up and walked to Heathers' table. She noticed he was coming, but pretended she didn't by busying herself by running her fork back and fourth across her plate. He sat in front of her and they locked looks.

"Hey." Noah started the conversation.

"Hey." Heather repeated, putting her fork down. "I did you a favor."

Noah smirked. "Were you expecting a trophy for that?"

"Yes, I was." She was joking, but still had no emotion.

"Looks like your bruises are sort of gone." Noah switched topics.

Heather shrugged. "Sort of."

Noah didn't take her eyes of her. "Does it hurt?" He already knew the answer did, but he wanted the conversation to continue. He didn't want any more awkward silences.

Heather nodded and bowed her head to look at her food.

"The pain will go away soon." Noah looked around.

"Are you still sick?" Heather asked, completely sincere.

"Nope, my immune system's like superman." He yawned. "But, I couldn't get much sleep last night."

"Oh, wow, two nights in a row?" She looked up.

Noah bobbed his head. "So, what were you doing up last night?"

"Doing you a favor." She tilted her head innocently.

"I heard you talking with..."

Alejandro walked by, purposely slowing down once he was near Heather, then went into the confessional.

"Him." Noah snapped his fingers in front of her face and she shook her head and looked at him.

"Hm?"

Noah sighed and repeated himself.

"You were awake?" Heather whispered. Noah nodded.

...

Heather walked into the losers' section with Noah in tow. She sat and pulled at his wrist, making him sit next to her. She removed her hand and crossed her legs. She bit her lip, not knowing whether to talk to Noah about her Alejandro issue or not. He _was_ on the same team and Alejandro and he could help her... A lot. Noah sat silently and waited for her to start. He was a patient guy, but he was really eager to hear what she had to say. She seemed really different. It was more interesting than weird, though. Heather sighed, and he took this as a sign of her finally ready to talk.

"How much did you hear?" Heather asked this to make sure she wouldn't say anything more he didn't know.

"All of it." Noah replied. Heather slanted her mouth and stayed silent.

Noah scratched his head. "Why are you getting so worked up about this anyway?" He was sort of frustrated with her.

"Because..." She said. Noah waited. He then realized she needed a push.

"Heather," Noah said. She looked at him, then into his eyes. "I won't tell." She had doubt in her eyes. "If you hadn't noticed, I'm kind of a loner here so I wouldn't have anyone to tell anyway." Noah joked. She smiled, then looked away and closed her eyes.

"Because, I thought he actually... _Genuinely_ liked mebut he doesn't and..." She stopped and opened her eyes to stare at the ground.

Noah felt his heart pull apart. '_Does she like him?_' He looked out a window as an attempt to relax himself. Right now, she needed a friend, so a friend he will be. Noah collected his thoughts. "He _did _say he liked you... Last night when you asked him-"

"No, Noah, he _didn't_." She turned her head to look at him. "He said he was _attracted_ to me. Just like all the other guys." Noah stared blankly at her for a moment, puzzled. She sighed. "There's a difference!"

Noah looked away and thought to himself. He compared the definitions in his head and found the difference, but was still confused. He looked back at her and she knew he sort of understood her.

"So, you don't like the fact that he's just like all the other guys?" Noah tried to get a clearer view of her thoughts. A part of him wanted to go up to Alejandro and smack him. Thanks to him, Heather thought all guys were the same.

"Yeah..." Heather said. Noah nodded slowly.

"I don't understand why you're so upset about _him_ specifically." Noah knew not to use Alejandro's name. He didn't want her head to explode from thoughts of him.

"... I think I might like him, Noah." Heather said quietly.

Though Noah was silent, he snapped. Of course she would like Alejandro. He was perfect. He was cunning, smooth, dangerous... He was her dream guy. Noah became tense and tightened his jaw. He took another look at Heather, who's gaze was on the floor rather than him. He was angry at her, but more at himself. He wanted to leave her, abandon her. But he looked into her eyes and became aware that she was hurt. He face palmed. She came to him for help and here he is getting mad at her. She had no idea that she was making him feel this way and yet, he was blaming her for ripping his heart out. Heather noticed the silence and looked towards Noah. She raised an eyebrow at his face expression.

"Noah?" She waved a hand before his face, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Uh," Noah shook his head, "He'll come to his senses eventually and he'll see who you really are and realize that... You're amazing on the inside too."

Heather stared at him, speechless.

Noah groaned, "That sounded so cheesy."

Heather laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Let my try again, um, he's... You're-" Noah rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's okay." Heather interrupted. "Thanks, Noah." She placed her hand on his, gazed into his eyes, then left to spend her remaining time before the challenge in the first class compartment.

Noah sat there while the feeling of her hand on his lingered on. He stared at his hand and completely forgot about Alejandro.

"Noah, my brilliantly intelligent teammate!" Alejandro walked in with the rest of Team Chris is Really Really Really Really Hot behind him.

Noah sighed and raised his hand, welcoming them. It was good when it lasted.

* * *

**A/N:** I rushed, so I know there are gonna be mistakes. These chapters are getting longer each time, hah! Yeah, my sleeping pattern got messed up again 'cause I accidentally took a nap at a park (bad idea) and now, I take naps whenever I can. I'm going to stop forcing myself to sleep and wake up at a specific time 'cause I only feel like writing after midnight. :)

Feel free to get mad at Heather for going to the eye candy, but remember the story's not over yet!


	6. Amazon

Flight after Amazon

Noah was cold, unbelievably cold. No, the temperature wasn't at fault here. He was nervous. It was Team Amazon's first elimination ceremony, and it was obvious who was going home. They were all against her. They always have been since day one. Noah was just one of the few who found her clever, rather than evil. He had always despised the ones who would twist the rules to benefit themselves, even if that meant shoving people out of the way and ignoring the guilt… But Heather had done this in such a way that caught, and held, Noah's attention. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was afraid. Afraid of her leaving. Afraid of himself going back to being the odd one out.

Tyler was no where to be found, but that didn't matter to Noah. What mattered was the fact that Alejandro was no where to be seen. Here he was, stuck with Nutsie and the Brickhouse, while Alejandro was possibly spending Heathers' last moments on this plane with her. 'Great,' Noah thought, 'Now _he's_ going to be the last thing she'll remember here.' Noah groaned, and both Owen and Izzy took notice.

"I wonder what's wrong with the little guy." Owen whispered, loud enough for Noah to hear.

"Ah, he's okay." Izzy flashed a smile at Noah and waved. "Aren't cha, Noah?"

Noah rolled his eyes. "_Why yes_, I just make obnoxious noises of depression whenever I feel _super_ happy."

"That's a little weird." Izzy laughed.

"Agreed." Owen joined her.

_Owen and Izzy_ calling _Noah_ weird? The world was chock full of irony. Noah opened his mouth to counter them, but stopped himself. He figured it would be pointless, and it probably wouldn't end well.

"It's okay, pal. Nobody's perfect." Owen said, then let himself pass gas.

"_Some, more imperfect than others._" Noah murmured to himself, for his own amusement.

"Except maybe Al." Owen tapped his chin and gazed up at the damp ceiling. "_That_ guy can pass for perfect." Izzy nodded, but remained silent.

"Seriously? You think that?" Noah readied himself for his upcoming rant. "I can find more than a billion imperfections in him—"

"_A billion?_" Izzy challenged. Noah had to agree with her, one billion is far too big a number for imperfections, even for Alejandro.

"Okay, over a hundred imperfections. One: he—"

Noah paused in time to save himself from being heard by Alejandro.

"What's with the noise in here?" Alejandro took a seat beside Noah, across from Owen and Izzy.

"Noah was just about to explain—"

"We were debating on who Team Amazon would vote out." Noah cut in, keeping in mind that Izzy must have been shushed many times before, so this wouldn't anger her.

"If you really want to know," Alejandro paused for effect, "It was Heather." He fell onto his back casually, as if what he said meant nothing. Noah's stomach dropped, and his palms became cold.

"What?" Noah wanted to make sure. For all he knew, Alejandro could be twisting his words.

"Heather had the most votes against her." Alejandro clarified, sensing worry in Noah's voice. To him, it was entertaining to see someone squirm.

Gwen entered the room and looked around nervously. She was then followed by a tense looking Courtney. The regret they both felt was practically scribbled all over their bodies. Courtney tucked her hair behind her ear and sat herself down cautiously. She glanced up at the still standing Gwen, mentally screaming at her. They stared silently at each other, but it was obvious that there were countless thoughts whirling around in their brains. Gwen began to pace, back and fourth, in front of Courtney, who breathed deeply, clearly trying to settle herself.

"Sierra, wait!"

Cody's shrill voice echoed through the plane. Sierra stepped in with tears rolling down her cheeks. She sniffed, and Cody called out for her once again. After hearing his voice, she broke into sobs. Loud, heart-wrenching sobs. Everyone in the room couldn't help but stare. Noah looked away, but only to see the faces of the others. It was a combination of awkward looks and true pity.

Although there was a heart broken teen crying her eyes out, Noah couldn't help but think of Heather. He wanted to ask them where she was, but it was pointless. He knew the answer; he just didn't want it to believe it. He wanted to punch something, anything. His glare moved towards Alejandro, who lay there a little too calmly. Noah stared at him for a little longer, and found that he was actually smiling. How could he be smiling at a time like this? Noah balled his hands into fists, but before he could stand, the invader of his thoughts stepped in with a devilish grin on her face.

"Heather!" Noah beamed.

Heathers' grin faded and she raised an eyebrow. Everyone else in the room, including the human waterfall, Sierra, snapped their heads to stare at Noah. Alejandro looked as if he was going to burst with laughter, but he silenced himself. _Now_ Noah wanted to punch something, preferably himself. That way, he would black out and just fade away from reality. Instead, he just sat there silently, looking from side to side, hoping for some sort of miracle to happen and magically make everyone forget what just happened.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Noah, but it was a fake elimination. I was just late because I was in the confessional." Heather broke the silence.

Noah stared at her for a brief moment before catching onto what she was going at.

"Chris is such an idiot. Who would pass the chance to push _you_ out of the plane?" Noah noticed a small shred of a smile on Heathers face before she rolled her eyes dramatically. He crossed his arms and scoffed.

"Whatever, nerd." She sat across from him and crossed her legs.

The rest of the contestants shrugged it off and continued their small conversations between themselves. All except Alejandro. He had nothing better to do, so he decided to use this moment to mess with his opponents. Alejandro sat up and immediately, Heather noticed. She watched him make his way towards her. Her heartbeat picking up after each step he took. She secretly begged him to turn around and stay away from her. She didn't want to get distracted from the game by a guy. Before she knew it, she was facing his abdomen. She imagined his abs hiding beneath his shirt and her breathing became heavy. She didn't dare to look up at his alluring eyes. She liked him, but she couldn't fall into a trap like this. She knew the type of guy he was.

Noah watched from across the room, trying not to show any type of emotion. He thought of different scenarios in his head and pondered upon the different ways he could stop Heather and Alejandro from getting too close. He knew it was pointless to think of this because at the end of the day, he would bail. He always bailed. He was gutless, and he knew it. If only he was as bold as Alejandro. Noah hated the fact that he was actually jealous of that barbarian.

"What do you think you're doing?" Heather scowled and looked to the side to stare at anything that could distract her from the man before her.

"You seem quite lonely sitting here alone. Would you mind if I sat next to you?" He looked down at her.

She wanted to say yes, she really did, but she couldn't let him know that.

"It's a free plane, do whatever you want. Only a moron would ask for permission to—"

He refused to let her finished and he took a seat beside her, slightly brushing his bare arm against hers, sending electricity to flow through her veins.

Noah took one last look at Heather. Her face expression told him all he needed to know, and he left the room. Alejandro chuckled to himself. He was knocking Heather off her game and at the same time, destroying Noah. He was killing two birds with one stone, it was perfect. This game was way too easy for him. And the icing on the cake was, he didn't even have to make an effort to pretend to like Heather. In truth, he liked her too, but at the moment, the game was so much more important.

…

"Whoa!" Chris slammed into the metal door of the confessional and fell to the ground with a great thud that echoed through the hall.

Noah stepped out and looked down at the guy sprawled across the floor. He couldn't help but chuckle at the scene.

"Watch where you're going, dude!" Chris sat up and rubbed his head. His eyes widened and he whipped out a mirror from one of his pockets.

"My hair!" He screamed before getting up, very agitatedly.

"Calm down, nobody's going to see you anyways, it's already dark." Noah pointed towards one of the windows. Chris growled.

"Isn't it a little late for you to be confessional cam-ing?"

"It was pretty early when I got in there, I guess I lost track of time." Noah walked back towards the economy section.

"Geez, if you talked for that long, I'm not even going to bother to air it."

"Fine with me." Noah shrugged.

…

"Things would be much easier if you would just admit your feelings for me." Alejandro snaked his arm around Heathers waist and her skin color darkened. He scooted closer to her, trying to make her fall even faster.

"Just because you're not talking doesn't mean I'm going to forget you're still here." He smirked. "It's impossible for me to forget you."

Heather figured that he wasn't going to stop, so she might as well stop hiding. Only for a little while.

"I'll admit my feelings after you admit yours." She regretted facing him. Their faces were only inches apart. Too close for comfort.

"Ah, so you _do_ have feelings for me." He squeezed lightly at her bare waist, forcing her to squirm in his grip.

"W-What?" She stuttered, "I didn't say that." She felt uncomfortably vulnerable, like a damsel in distress. She couldn't decide whether she hated it or not. It was extremely different for her to be taken control of in a relationship.

"Right, my mistake." He whispered.

He pulled at her side as he leaned closer to her face. He saw her close her eyes and he knew he'd done a good job. All he had to do was seal it with a kiss, and she'd be done. His lips had touched her, but not her lips. He opened his eyes and pulled back slightly frustrated. He looked at Heather, who had turned her head to look at someone at the door.

"Uh…" Noah backed away slowly. "Sorry for… Interrupting your little… Thing."

"Don't worry about it," Alejandro stood and returned to the spot he originally sat at. "You didn't interrupt anything important." He leaned against the wall behind him and shut his eyes.

Noah turned his head toward Heather. It looked like that last line might have stung her a bit. The anger in his eyes was soon replaced by sympathy, but he decided not to sit with her. From experience, Noah knew that time alone was better than having someone shove questions down your throat. He sat directly across from Heather and attempted to make eye contact.

Her head was turned to the side. She was watching Alejandro. After a matter of minutes, Heather sighed heavily and ripped her gaze away from him to stare at the floor instead. At this point, it looked like the floor cared more for her than Alejandro. She looked up and saw Noah paying his attention to her. Their gazes locked and they sat there, trying to read each other silently.

"So, you were worried about me, huh?" Heather said.

"Don't flatter yourself. I wasn't worried." Noah lied. He regretted it afterwards, because it was more than obvious already.

"Heather!" She mocked the face expression he had on after she walked into the room.

"Alright, alright… Don't go 'upping' your self esteem, now. You're just the only one here who knows how to have a normal conversation, that's all."

Heather got up to sit beside Noah after noticing they were talking a little too loud.

"Why is it that we only talk during the night?" Noah asked quietly.

Heather had also wondered about that, but paid no attention to looking for the answer. Noah, on the other hand, always needed and answer to any question he had.

"Well, it's either because Chris usually makes us do challenges during the day and unlike all of you, I actually focus," Heather said. Noah nodded, and she continued. "_Or_, because it's way more romantic at night and I'm trying to make you like me." She laughed. Noah wanted to believe she wasn't joking about the last part, but he knew she wasn't, so he laughed along with her.

"Wow, this is probably the first time I've actually seen you smile." Heather crossed her legs and leaned back, starting to get a little tired.

"Same for me."

"What? I've smiled plenty of times." Heather thought back and realized she had barely smiled for the first two seasons.

"Maybe, but were they genuine smiles?" Noah questioned. He told himself that this would be the last question. He didn't want to annoy her.

"… Why are we even _talking_ about smiling?" Heather asked in disgust.

"Because that's what dorks do." Noah answered playfully. He waited for her to begin ranting patiently.

"I am **not** a dork!" Heather stood up a little too fast, causing her to fall to the floor.

Something about people falling over was always amusing to Noah. He laughed and remained seated, staring at her.

"If you didn't have such a cute smile, I'd throw you out of this plane." Heather turned over and sat up on the floor.

Noah barely received any compliments in his life, and getting one from Heather was more than satisfying. His smile only grew wider.

"Are you going to help me up, or what?" Heather waited.

"You're fully capable of doing that yourself." Noah chuckled.

He was suddenly pulled downwards, making him fall next to her. His laughs were replaced with Heathers giggles.

"Only a dork would do that." He turned over and brushed himself off.

He received a flick to the head and they sat on the floor, talking the night away.

* * *

**A/N: **Whooopsies, I'm sorry for randomly disappearing for a while. It's been a little over a month. I just wanted to live my last days of summer vacation to the fullest... I got grounded yesterday so now I'm stuck at home. Yeah, my parents don't know how to ground their kids properly 'cause they let me use my computer and every other electronic in the house. School's coming up, and since I do anything to get me away from homework, I'll be working on this a lot more.


	7. Paris

**A/N:** Note that I wrote this while feeling a little light headed. I'm sick, & I apologize. :\

* * *

**Flight Before Paris**

One tiny, almost inaudible footstep was all it took to awaken Noah from his sleep. He wasn't a light sleeper, but something was different. Habitually, Noah moved his hand to his face to rub the sleep from his eyes. Or tried to, at least. Something was restraining him, but he couldn't tell what. Soon after his usual morning blur came to an end, he found Heather wrapped around himself. Noah's cheeks were bright red by the time he closed his eyes, thinking this was all a dream. He opened his eyes again, but nothing had changed. Heather had managed to snuggle her way into his chest and wrap a leg around Noah during the night. Afraid of what she would do to him if she found them in that position, Noah attempted to move. He didn't want her to kill him for harassment, though he wasn't guilty for it. After trying to make small movements away from her, he found himself immeasurably further. All he could do was wait for Heather to wake up and remove herself from him. As must as he wanted to, he mentally warned himself to resist his want to return the warmth she was giving him by encircling her with his own arms. He examined her one last time before closing his eyes. He admired the small things he hadn't noticed before. This was probably the closest he would get to her in his life. Noah loved the way Heather looked when she was asleep. Her hair, ruffled, but wonderful at the same time. Her petite nose, undeniably cute. The fact that her lips were slightly chapped made no impression on Noah, as they were curled into a smile that turned his heart into goo. To him, every single inch of her defined perfection. With her image imprinted into his head, Noah closed his eyes.

Seconds felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours. Before he knew it, Noah had fallen asleep again. Not long after, Heather woke up naturally, a little later than she would usually get up. Instead of seeing what she expected to be a pillow, the first thing she saw was Noah's sweater vested chest. She turned beat red and sat up in a jolt, awakening Noah in the process. She watched him brush his eyes with his hands and sit up slowly.

"Oh, God, I didn't mean to wake you." Heather said, feeling extremely awkward.

She hoped with her life that Noah didn't know that she was cuddling with him last night. This was made totally obvious to Noah, so he decided to play along.

"Meh, it's better than waking up to my dog barking at my door…" Noah said. "What's with you?" He was acting as if he had no clue.

"What?"

"Your face, it's all red." He was flattered, but she had no idea.

"It's just… Really hot in here." Heather stood and realized it was pretty chilly, rather than hot. She rolled her eyes at herself.

"No, it's not." Noah stated the obvious and stayed put. It wouldn't hurt to mess with her a little.

"Get up, everyone else is probably already finished breakfast." She changed the subject.

Noah raised an arm towards her, physically telling her to help him up. Heather stayed silent and stared down at him, puzzled.

Noah smirked, and brought the previous night to mind. "You pulled me down, so you're pulling me back up."

"You're a brat." Heather said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.

"I learned from the best." He balanced himself and she released her grip on his hand. "Blame yourself."

Noah walked off with a smile on his face and Heather followed with her arms folded across her chest, annoyed, amused, and impressed all at the same time.

…

**Flight After Paris**

Tyler shot imaginary lasers through DJ's face with his time to time glares. Fully aware of Tyler's hostility towards him, DJ tried to steer clear of him, but there were only so many places to go before running into, and possibly hurting, another innocent, uncaged animal.

"You'd better keep your distance, you-you girlfriend eliminator!" Tyler shook his fist at DJ, who wasn't too far away.

"It wasn't my fault!" DJ whined in a flurry of frustration. He continued his way towards the opposite side of the plane.

Tyler extended their argument, forcing DJ to repeat the same sentence over and over again. This continued to the point where Noah wouldn't care if they both exploded.

"Guys." Noah spoke. Ignored, as usual.

"Tyler," Though Noah wanted to punch it, he tapped his teammate's shoulder instead. "Dude, it wasn't his fault."

Tyler sat down and folded his arms, still unconvinced, but tired.

"Thanks, Noah." DJ raised his hand in appreciation.

Tyler opened his mouth to fire up another bicker-fest, but was stopped by Noah, who covered his mouth using his hand.

"I think you should go and let this hot head calm down."

DJ nodded and left.

…

Heather stepped out of the confessional and right when she spotted him, she charged right towards him. DJ yelped as Heather grabbed at his arm, smiling in the process. As much as she enjoyed Alejandro's company, she wanted him off the plane. In her mind, she saw him in between her and her prize. She knew he thought the same way, so with DJ in an alliance with her, she would have the advantage.

"Heather! W—"

"Where are you going?" Heather asked sweetly.

"Uh," DJ stared at the arm she held, "I'm just walking around… Away from Tyler."

"Say no more, how about you come to first class?" She tugged at his arm, leading him towards where the rest of her team was.

"Sure…" DJ knew where this was going.

…

"I miss my Linds…" Tyler gazed out the window dramatically.

Noah rolled his eyes. The way he was acting made him want to puke. She's just a girl, not oxygen.

"If Heather got eliminated, you'd know how I feel."

"Excuse me?" Noah raised a brow. His heart clenched, but he kept his cool.

"I'm not stupid, man, I know you like her." At last, Tyler had forgotten about his own issue, but replaced it with Noah's.

"Whatever, every guy's liked her. Don't tell me you don't think she's good looking." He tried to defend himself by moving the spotlight towards Tyler.

"Yeah, but you_ like_ her." Tyler nudged at him with his elbow. Noah sat there, speechless.

"You look at her like I do with Lindsay. If you want, I could help you."

Noah narrowed his eyes.

"I won't tell anyone." Tyler raised his right hand. "Promise."

…

"Heather's only buttering you up so you'll be in an alliance with her, you know that?" Sierra warned. "She's sneaky, cruel, and manipulative… Which is just one of the reasons why I'm such a big fan of the show!" She pranced off, arms spread and continued her search for Cody.

Heather placed a glass filled with hot cocoa before DJ.

"I know it's not exactly how your mother made it, but I tried." Heather shrugged and took a seat beside him.

"Thanks." DJ brought it near his face and inspected it carefully, but trying not to make it obvious.

Heather watched him and tried her best not to scream and tell him that she wasn't trying to kill him. "No problem." She breathed out.

DJ took a cautious sip, and after the first one, came another. By the look on his face, Heather knew he was amazed. She congratulated herself in her head.

"So?" She urged.

"It's better than mommas!" DJ downed the remains in the cup and smacked his lips.

"That's sweet of you to say."

"Which intern did you blackmail to make that, Heather? I need to know what they put in here." DJ paused after realizing what he just said. "Whoops, sorry, that came out wrong."

Heather sighed, "Relax, I'm used to it. And for your information, I made that myself and I added a teaspoon of maple flavoring."

"Oh." Was all he said in reply.

"You can't imagine how many ingredients Chef-oh wait, yes you can, you worked with him." She hinted at his secret alliance with Chef back in the second season. She smirked while he drowned in guilt.

"You shouldn't feel guilty, DJ, you were just doing Chef a favor." She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Speaking of that…" Heather crossed her arms.

DJ got up off his seat and left for the economy class area.

"Uh, DJ?" Heather got up.

"Thanks for the hot chocolate, but I don't want an alliance." DJ left the room.

"So you'll think about it?" She yelled. The door closed shut.

"Great, okay." She mumbled to herself.

…

"Who told you that?" Noah scoffed. "This isn't a movie, Tyler, things don't work out like that."

"Come on," Tyler pushed, "right now, Heather thinks she's above all of us, all you have to do is pretend that you don't care. Act like _you're_ above _her_."

"What good would that do?" Noah said.

"She considers you as a friend, right?"

"I think so."

"Okay, so just 'delete' her from your life." Tyler quoted from Noah's vocabulary.

Noah stayed silent and let him continue.

"She'll see how much you actually mean to her and pay way more attention to you." Tyler finished.

"… I'm sorry, but that's unbelievably stupid." Noah crossed his arms. "That's just going to make her hate me."

"Okay," Tyler placed a hand on his chin, "since Heather's mind is on the money, spend more time with…" He cringed, "DJ."

"Right, because she'll want him in an alliance with her and she'll be spending her time with him." Noah smirked.

"If that doesn't work out, go with Plan A." Tyler held his thumbs up and bobbed his head.

"Fine."


End file.
